Michael Lee

Michael Lee is a prominent in-house patent attorney, currently serving as the Director and Head of Patents at Google LLC. In this role, he leads a global team overseeing Google's comprehensive patent matters, including portfolio development, counseling, operations, data science, licensing, transactions, and policy. His practice primarily involves defending operating companies like Google, as evidenced by his appearance on the defendant side in Virtamove Corp. v. Google LLC and as a petitioner in an inter partes review (IPR) to challenge a patent asserted against Google in Google LLC v. Headwater Research LLC.

Before joining Google in 2017, Mr. Lee held a significant role as Senior Director of Intellectual Property at Cisco Systems, where he managed teams focused on patent licensing, IP policy, standards, open source issues, and technology licensing. He also gained experience at Yahoo! and in private practice, where his work focused on patent litigation.

Mr. Lee has direct experience with post-grant proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), notably as a petitioner for Google in Google LLC v. Headwater Research LLC (IPR2026-00137). This involvement aligns with Google's broader strategy, as a related Supreme Court filing concerning Google LLC v. VirtaMove, Corp. highlights legal questions regarding the PTO's authority to deny IPR institution based on "settled expectations."

He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in materials science engineering from the University of California at Berkeley and a law degree from The George Washington University Law School. His bar admissions are not explicitly detailed in the public information reviewed.